No Sleep for the Good
by railise
Summary: Arthur is exhausted, but nobody will let him sleep. Well... almost nobody. Post-S5, everybody-lived AU.


**Prompt:** "A/G. All Arthur wants is a nap."  
**A/N:** For **ag_fics** Team Fic Battle.

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Reintroducing magic to Camelot was turning out to be more work than Arthur could have expected. What with one thing and another, he had barely slept in three days. It was with a profound sense of relief that he finally collapsed into bed, bouncing a little as he hit the mattress- only to have Guinevere promptly fling herself over her side of the bed and retch all over the floor.

He was already aware that "morning" illness was not actually limited to mornings- this was not their first child, after all- but that was unexpected. And, she wanted to clean it up, rather than ring for a servant so late at night, which he definitely was not going to stand for... which meant that he was the one on the floor with a rag and a bucket. That was after bringing Guinevere a drink to rinse her mouth out, and a fresh nightdress since her sleeve had been in the way. Then, he washed himself up, and by the time it was all over, he was too alert to sleep. When he finally drifted off, it was in the wee hours of the morning, and Merlin came in to wake him up soon after.

Arthur somehow managed to plow through a series of petitions, a council meeting, and an inspection of the knights without being very conscious for any of it. Guinevere had been paying visits that morning with the children, and when they had not yet returned at lunchtime, he decided to take advantage of the rare moment to himself. Climbing into the bed, he barely got his head on the pillow before his eyes were shut...

...and then, the door slammed open, and little feet pounded across the floor, followed by shrieks of, "Papa!" He just had time to open his eyes before the older children had launched themselves onto the bed. Tiredness aside, he never turned down an opportunity to play with them, and dragged himself up, letting out a bear growl as he did that sent them squealing across the room. Guinevere, sitting in the other side of the room to nurse the youngest, shook her head and laughed.

That afternoon, King Gorr arrived, meaning a ceremony consisting of speeches and exchanges of gifts had to be held. There was time set aside between the ceremony and dinner, ostensibly to allow the guests to settle in, but Arthur was also intending to use it to catch a rest. Trudging up to his chambers, he opened the door, only to find Guinevere surrounded by her seamstress's assistants, altering her gown for that night. He ducked out before any of them could notice he was there, then pondered where else he might go. All of the guest rooms were filled by Gorr's entourage, and the same was even true of the servant's quarters.

Passing by the kitchens, he was struck by a sudden inspiration, and headed for the stores. It was not hard to locate the sacks full of flour (which seemed as though they would be comfortable enough), and he was almost asleep before he had even settled atop them. He even managed to catch a couple of winks- four minutes' worth, as it happened- before the kitchen maids came in, Cook hollering after them about potatoes and apples. He managed to roll behind the sacks on which he had been laying, out of sight and thus unlikely to be discovered sleeping in the pantry, and considered simply falling back asleep where he had rolled. Unfortunately, it was too small a space for him to be even slightly comfortable, and he clambered out once he was alone again.

He could practically feel the minutes tick away, and with no other options coming to mind, he headed back for his chambers. The seamstress and her assistants were just going to have to deal with the king snoring in the next room.

As he was passing the nursery, the door popped open, and Lochlan peeked out. "Papa!" Extending a small hand and ignoring his nurse calling for him to come back in and shut the door, the boy asked, "Come in?"

Arthur smiled and took his hand, following him into the room. Nurse was singing quietly to the baby, and Caer was sitting up in her bed and playing with a doll. "I'm sorry, Sire," Nurse apologized. "He's supposed to be going down for his nap, but thought he heard your footsteps."

"He did," Arthur replied, picking up his son. "Good ears."

"I don't want a nap," Lochlan pouted, rubbing his eye with a small fist as he said it.

"No nap!" Caer agreed. She might not have many words yet, but she always managed to find the most effective ones.

"Well, I'll tell you what: _I_ want a nap," Arthur informed them.

Lochlan wrinkled his nose. "Why?"

"Why?" echoed Caer.

The baby was asleep, and Nurse got up to lay her in the cradle. Arthur gave her a nod to indicate that she could leave, and as she curtsied and headed for the door, he answered the children, "Because, I am very sleepy."

"You can have my nap," Lochlan offered.

Arthur's eyes fell on Lochlan's bed, which was much smaller than his own, yet plenty big enough. "You cannot skip your nap, young man." Yawning, he said, "Let's share."

Caer did not wait for her brother to agree. Flinging back her covers, she ran over to the bed and hopped in. "Me, too!"

There was a brief, panicked scurrying about the castle that evening; the king had not shown up for dinner. When Gwen finally located him, she smiled- and began mentally composing his excuses to King Gorr. Neither one of them woke easily when the children were snuggled in like that, and she knew any attempt to wake Arthur was going to be a losing battle, after how tired he had looked earlier. He was sleeping so deeply, he was barely even snoring.

After checking on the baby, Gwen kissed each member of her family, and went to see to their guests.


End file.
